These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren. Proverbs 6:16-19
We live in a fallen sinful world that thinks we can define God. One of the world’s favorite definitions of God is “God is love.” That is true and biblical, but the fatal mistake is that the world insists on defining God by the world’s flawed definition of love. Thinking biblically, we must define love by how the Bible defines God.
People who do not know God often say, “How could a God of love to this or that? A favorite is “How could a God of love send anyone to Hell?” I’ll come back to that.
The world insists that love demands that we endorse and affirm everything, but that could not be farther from the truth! Even humanly speaking, a loving parent hates, and will kill, a wild animal that is attacking that parent’s child. Likewise, because God is not only loving but holy—He not only disapproves what is unholy, He hates sin because it is unholy. Because God is holy, He must judge and condemn sinners.
So the question, “How can a God of love send anyone to Hell?” is based on not knowing God and therefore not understanding love. Because all people are sinners (having repeatedly violated God’s law) the better question is, “How can a God who is holy not send everyone to Hell?”
The answer to that better question is: Because (thank the Lord) God is also gracious through Christ Jesus!